Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Just wanted to remind you that there is officially less than 6 months left before Christmas. Now if you get paid monthly, that is less than 6 opportunities to buy Christmas gifts early. If you get paid every other week, there are less than 12 opportunities. For those lucky enought to get paid weekly, you have less than 24 weeks.

Christmas is coming--no doubt. You might as well be prepared as not!

Hope you get ready so you can enjoy the original concept for this hoilday. Christmas is not about hype and shopping. It is about reflection and thankfulness. It is about family time. It is about joy and hope.

You don't have to be Christian to be able to celebrate this holiday. Every religion is about these things.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Here is a wonderful tutorial on making crepe paper Christmas trees that I thought you would enjoy. I found this originally on AllFreeHolidayCrafts, but that link forwards you to Creative Chaos. So be sure to visit both sites and try out some of their other craft ideas.

If you make one of these trees, I know that I would love to see it and I know that Creative Chaos would also love to get a look.

Woo Hoo....After a back breaking day at Paper Tales (which consisted of eating pumpkin bread, talking with some lovely ladies who read my blog, solving a glitter crisis, eating more pumpkin bread, ringing up crafty customers, inadvertently letting someone know that the special crinkle ribbon that's all the rage at the Tim Holtz 12 days of Tags blog is simply seambinding, eating more pumpkin bread and then finally waving goodbye to everyone), I arrived home to two boys and a Papa who had been waiting anxiously for my arrival so we could all watch Toy Story 3 together. Once my eyes were dry from the ending of the movie, I got right to work on my Snowflake Box kits for tomorrow's class in between five loads of laundry. Why am I telling you this? Because I want everyone to see that I am totally committed to keeping my promise to bring you the tutorial.......even though I really want to sit on the couch and watch a movie......
But I must show you how to do this so you can become just as obsessed as I am. Then I won't feel so lonely in my little world of crepe paper and glitter. First, though, I have to tell you how it all happened. Cindy Gilstrap, a wonderful crafter/artist, had made a crepe paper Christmas tree for the Joli Paquet blog that you can see here. I instantly fell in love with it. However, because I have the patience of a gnat, I decided to use my sewn ruffled crepe instead. And the rest is history......

Now, I did a google search to see if these had ever been done before and didn't find anything. Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? Let me know if you do!
Now, here are a couple things you need to know about this project. Number one....once you start making these trees, you will find yourself unable to stop. Seriously. Ruffled crepe paper will never be the same to you. You will find yourself looking for reasons why you need just one more crepe paper tree in your life.
Number two....expect to be pulling hot glue strings from your tree, your table, your body and your children for at least the next two months.
Ok....I think we're ready!
First gather your supplies.....
1. Crepe paper......I have no idea how much because I neglected to measure beforehand so let's just say a roll
2. Hot glue gun (this is what I used) or a heavy gel glue like fabri-tac or 3 in 1
3. Piece of paper to make into a cone or paper mache cone
4. Peppermint Bark candy bar (you will get hungry)
I took a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper and rolled it into a cone. I then glued the end at the top to secure.......
Glue the sides......
Cut the bottom of the cone to from the base. Once you cut it set it on the table to see if it's even and stands straight......
I sew my crepe paper on my sewing machine using a basting stitch and tight tension. It ruffles up just right. On my old machine, I had to pull the one end of the thread to ruffle it. That works also.
Start at the bottom with your first section skirting the bottom of the table. Glue into place......
Continue around the base until you meet up in the back.....

Take it a bit above the last bottom skirt and continue around the cone.....
I worked in sections using pieces that were about two feet long. When you get to the end, just match end to end and glue....
Time for a break.....grab your chocolate......
Ok, back to work! We're almost done.......

Ta Da! You did it! For the very top I use a small section of the ruffled crepe paper and cut it a bit shorter than the other layers and then glue into place........

I hope you enjoyed it! Put a bunch of glitter on and you are good to go. I would LOVE to see any of the ones you make. Please send pictures!! Ok....I'm off to bed.....I've got a class to teach tomorrow!

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What else you could give as gifts!

About Me

As a psychiatric nurse for the last 20 years, I have seen many changes
in the way we, as a population, view and respond to those we deem
"mentally ill".
I know that anyone, anywhere can be affected by mental illness, just
like anyone, anywhere can become diabetic. I know that we need to treat
these people as we, ourselves, would want to be treated.